Kenneth Wain and the Lifelong Engagement with Education

Series:

Edited By John Baldacchino, Simone Galea and Duncan P. Mercieca

My Teaching, My Philosophy brings together twenty of the most prominent thinkers on education, philosophy, art, and literature to converse with Kenneth Wain and the many facets of his work. It shows how Wain’s passionate engagement with various issues, most prominently philosophy and education, continues to re-generate new ideas and thoughts through his philosophical method. This book gives Wain’s philosophy the attention it deserves and succeeds in continuing an open-ended philosophical conversation with its readers.
My Teaching, My Philosophy is a must-read for anyone wanting to get a snapshot on the most recent thinking on philosophy of education.

18. The Role of Philosophy: Questions Rorty Raises

Chapter

Prices

Chapter Price

← 268 | 269 →• CHAPTER EIGHTEEN •

Extract

This chapter offers a critical analysis of Richard Rorty’s views on the role of philosophy and the future of philosophy. It first discusses Rorty’s anti-epistemological stance. It then explores Rorty and Wain’s autobiographical papers and questions the value of autobiography for philosophy. Rorty’s suggestion, that narratives (or literature) should replace philosophy, is discussed, after which some issues related to the philosophy of education are addressed. The chapter concludes with an examination of the feasibility of Wittgenstein’s plea to bring peace to philosophy and some reflections on the future role of philosophy in a “postphilosophical” society.

Throughout his lifetime, Rorty (1931–2007) played a key role in undermining the God-like image of the philosopher upheld by Plato, Kant, and Husserl. Rather than advocating a “superior” path to truth, this countertradition insists on setting aside, dissolving, or simply forgetting about the futile quest for an atemporal, privileged vantage point from which the philosopher can monitor other uses of language.

As the title of Rorty’s publication, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (1979a), suggests, the mind does not mirror nature, and it can never hope to do so. Concepts such as truth, metaphysics, and epistemology must be given up, as there is no way to attain any justification for the foundations of knowledge. These philosophical concepts have never provided any adequate answers and, from a pragmatic point of view, they are no longer useful. The best we can hope for is to accept our contingent situation in life.

You are not authenticated to view the full text of this chapter or article.

This site requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books or journals.